Thursday, March 30, 2023
Monday, March 6, 2023
Reading roundup
Some novels recently read in their entirety or in part...
Quartet in Autumn
Barbara Pym
The blurb on the cover states: "Written with the wit and style of a twentieth-century Jane Austen." Certainly this quiet 1977 novel about four lonely and aging co-workers is witty, in a very Brit stiff-upper-lip manner. But Ms. Pym seems not to like any of her protagonists, and the most one can muster for any of them is pity, rather than empathy, let alone admiration. At least with Austen there is usually one character to like per novel.
Spook Street
Mick Herron
Another Slough House comic thriller. Solid entertainment.
The Alien Years
Robert Silverberg
I quite liked his Dying Inside, and Tower of Glass was decent if predictable sci-fi. So it was a no-brainer that I would grab a used paperback copy of The Alien Years, which is– good guess!– about an alien invasion. I love alien invasion stories, but I gave up at page 60 of this 488-page snoozer. Dated and perfunctory.
Thursday, March 2, 2023
Paul David, 1935-2023
Paul was my mentor and co-chair of my PhD dissertation committee. He was, overall, the biggest single influence on my intellectual and professional development, and among the most brilliant people I ever met. Given his stature and many accomplishments, it seems a little odd to say that he was an under-achiever, but it may be that the breadth of his interests sometimes obscured the depth of his insights– a hedgehog in fox's clothing, perhaps.
Monday, February 13, 2023
For your consideration: real movies!
Not watching enough movies these days. These days, it's easy gratification to get sucked into a series and stick with it through as many seasons as they produce... a harmless addiction. But how about cinema: a self-contained work that shows you something that will make you squirm, bore you into enlightenment, leave you stricken, amazed, or just a little different... or at least a little impressed? For your consideration:
Jafar Panahi's Taxi
Funeral Parade of Roses
Licorice Pizza
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Two more novels by Elizabeth Taylor
Angel
A Game of Hide and Seek
Was it purely by accident that I happened to read her two best novels first, or was I just in a more receptive frame of mind when I read them? I loved A View of the Harbour and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, and the books under consideration here share many of the same virtues: prose writing that takes your breath away, adept juggling of interior and exterior narrative. But how much interest can one generate in the sad life of a romance novelist who is a monster to everyone around her; or in a couple who, having fallen in love as kids, go on to lead separate lives of longing and misery? Not enough.
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